Listen Live

INDIANAPOLIS – Here’s our latest ‘hits and misses’ piece on 1075TheFan.com highlighting the good and bad from the previous game.

As you’d expect, the offense is all over the ‘misses’ category this week after the 26-3 loss the Patriots on Sunday.

What was the good and bad from the Colts (3-5-1) losing another game in Foxborough?

 

Hits

-Kwity Paye’s Special Day: I’d put Kwity Paye’s Sunday outing right up there with any in his NFL career. Not only did Paye impact both in the run and pass game, but he did it after having not played in a month. He also did it with his mom in attendance, as she drove from Rhodes island to see her son play. Whether it’s here and the present or certainly down the road, the Colts really need Paye to live up to that first-round selection. Paye also played 46-of-63 defensive snaps, so hardly a pitch count for him after missing a month.

-Defensive Tackle Duo (Again): Similar to the offensive line in the “misses” section, it’s pretty easy to place Grover Stewart and DeForest Buckner right here in the ‘hits’ on a weekly basis. The defensive tackle duo was again disruptive all afternoon long. They were a major reason why the patriots had just 2 of their 14 drives move for longer than 20 yards. Chris Ballard is right when he calls this DT pair one of the best in the NFL.

 

Misses

-Handling Stunts: If you look at the early sacks on Sunday, the majority of them given up were via miscommunication on stunts. Veteran right guard Matt Pryor was at the root of these issues, with Braden Smith and Ryan Kelly contributing to several sacks on Sam Ehlinger. So much of this goes back to coaching. While Bill Belichick was getting his best rusher stunting towards the Colts weak link up front (Pryor), Indy OL coach Chris Strausser had no answer in the stunt department. Expecting this for a group decimated with injuries is one thing. But that’s not the case for the 2022 Colts. Yet the problems continue to be there. 

-Throwing With Anticipation: Some will say I’m being too critical of Sam Ehlinger, well we have to start grading him on the scale of “potential franchise quarterback or not?” Yes, the offensive line had some major issues on Sunday, and Ehlinger had a few drops go against him, but the QB still had some misses when potential plays arise. This was to be expected facing Bill Belichick in Ehlinger’s first road start. Ehlinger must anticipate open targets better, which was a question on him as he entered the NFL.

-Answers At Left Tackle, Right Guard: The weeks go by in this 2022 season and the Colts continue to be lost as to what to do at left tackle or right guard. Both positions are a mess and the Patriots feasted on them Sunday. Chris Ballard’s belief in very inexperienced options at those spots (Matt Pryor at left tackle, Danny Pinter at righ guard) was the start of such an abysmal year for the offensive line. Bernhard Raimann looked like a rookie left tackle quite a lot on Sunday. And Pryor was lost at right guard, getting benched for Will Fries.

 

Leave a Reply